Both the child and the dog have grown since this little figurine/statue was done! Done initially in clay, I had the mould made when the the clay was fairly dry already, and most shrinkage done. It is a long process from the original sculpting to final investment casting: rubber mould, wax duplicate, gating, ceramic mould, de-waxing, casting and final product with or without patina. I had this one done at the The Crucible foundry, in Ontario. (It’s a popular name for foundries.) Of course, I get most enjoyment from the tactile sculpting experience…and the final product! Even though it had a limited run of eight, each little statue ended up being unique, since each wax is hand-finished separately, as is each end product- the patina is never identical either.

The Shape of Things to Come: Inner and Outer Shells for Wax

The Reader, bronze, MdV

Another View (The Reader, MdV)

Of course, you can now choose to have your creation printed. I have not done that yet, but it is quite a different process, one where each product would probably be identical? It could hold several advantages- via Wikipedia: ‘The use of 3D scanning technologies allow(s) the replication of real objects without the use of molding techniques, that in many cases can be more expensive, more difficult, or too invasive to be performed; particularly with precious or delicate cultural heritage artifacts[23] where the direct contact of the molding substances could harm the surface of the original object.’